When Titans Clashed

When Titans Clashed

How the Red Army Stopped Hitler

Revised and Expanded

David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House

On first publication, this uncommonly concise and readable account of Soviet Russia's clash with Nazi Germany utterly changed our understanding of World War II on Germanys Eastern Front, immediately earning its place among top-shelf histories of the world war. Revised and updated to reflect recent Russian and Western scholarship on the subject, much of it the authors' own work, this new edition maintains the 1995 original's distinction as a crucial volume in the history of World War II and of the Soviet Union and the most informed and compelling perspective on one of the greatest military confrontations of all time.

In 1941, when Pearl Harbor shattered America's peacetime pretensions, the German blitzkrieg had already blasted the Red Army back to Moscow. Yet, less than four years later, the Soviet hammer-and-sickle flew above the ruins of Berlin, stark symbol of a miraculous comeback that destroyed the Germany Army and put an end to Hitler's imperial designs. In swift and stirring prose, When Titans Clash provides the clearest, most complete account of this epic struggle, especially from the Soviet perspective. Drawing on the massive and unprecedented release of Soviet archival documents in recent decades, David Glantz, one of the world's foremost authorities on the Soviet military, and noted military historian Jonathan House expand and elaborate our picture of the Soviet war effort—a picture sharply different from accounts that emphasize Hitler's failed leadership over Soviet strategy and might.

“Praise for the first edition:

Now, Western readers can learn for the first time the full extent of the Soviet achievement. Essential reading for anyone wanting to know the true story of how the Red Army snatched victory in 1945 from the jaws of defeat in 1941.”

—Washington Post Book World

“This major advance will supplant John Erickson’s two massive volumes on the war in the east, The Road to Stalingrad and The Road to Berlin, as the standard reference book for nonspecialists.”

—Foreign Affairs

“Simply put, this is the best book yet published on the epic Russo-German War of 1941–1945 and the first written entirely from the Soviet point of view.”

—World War II

“Easily the best operational account of the eastern front to appear in the West.”

—American Historical Review

“Required reading for all who seek to understand the Second World War and its aftermath.”

—Journal of Military History

“When Titans Clashed represents by all and any reckoning a book whose time has come. The authors’ clear and vigorous narrative leaves no doubt about the key decisions and the critical encounters in these massive engagements.”

—John Erickson, author of The Road to Stalingrad

“A compelling narrative of an epic conflict. No other work has answered with greater authority the lingering historical question—how did the Red Army defeat Nazi Germany?”

—Von Hardesty, author of Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power, 1941–1945

“Exceptionally authoritative and exceptionally readable. The cogent assessments of Red Army commanders are not to be missed.”

—Russell F. Weigley, author of The American Way of War

“Certain to become the standard reference on the most important campaign of the Second World War.”

—Richard R. Muller, author of The German Air War in Russia

“Corrects longstanding misconceptions and puts a human ‘face’ on the ‘faceless’ Soviet army.”

—O. A. Rzheshevsky, Chief, Department for Studies of the Twentieth-Century Wars, Institute of World History, Moscow

“Indispensable.”

—Dale R. Herspring, author of The Soviet High Command, 1967–1989

Rafts of newly available official directives, orders, and reports reveal the true nature and extraordinary scale of Soviet military operations as they swept across the one thousand miles from Moscow to Berlin, featuring stubborn defenses and monumental offensives and counteroffensives and ultimately costing the two sides combined a staggering twenty million casualties. Placing the war within its wider context, the authors also make use of recent revelations to clarify further the political, economic, and social issues that influenced and reflected what happened on the battlefield. Their work gives us new insight into Stalin's political motivation and Adolf Hitlers role as warlord, as well as a better understanding of the human and economic costs of the war—for both the Soviet Union and Germany.

While incorporating a wealth of new information, When Titans Clashed remains remarkably compact, a tribute to the authors' determination to make this critical chapter in world history as accessible as it is essential.

About the Author

David M. Glantz and Jonathan M. House have collaborated on numerous volumes of military history, including The Stalingrad Trilogy and The Battle of Kursk.